EconomicPolicyJournal.com

Why Donald Trump Never Washed the Windows at Trump Tower

2017-07-30T02:03:00.002-04:00

The latest edition of Sunday Morning with Robert Wenzel: -RW

BREAKING The European Union Explores Bank Account Cash Withdrawal Freezes

2017-07-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

The European Union is considering measures which would allow members to temporarily stop people withdrawing money from their accounts to prevent bank runs, an EU document reviewed by Reuters revealed. The proposal, which has been in the works since the beginning of this year, comes less than two months after a run on deposits at Banco Popular contributed to the collapse of the Spanish lender.

Trump Just Exploded on China; Are Tariffs Coming?

2017-07-29T19:55:00.001-04:00

President Trump was supposedly "going easy" on China when it came to trade because China was supposedly helping out with North Korea but Trump just let out a Twitter explosion toward China after the latest missile launch by North Korea: I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet... — Donald J. Trump (

The Corrupt Origins of Central Banking in America

2017-07-29T15:27:00.001-04:00

This is a great lecture by Tom DiLorenzo on Alexander Hamilton and how national bank corruption got started in the United States.

Trump Intends to Sign Russia Sanctions Bill into Law

2017-07-29T08:15:00.000-04:00

It's official. President Donald Trump intends to sign legislation that places new sanctions on Russia and empowers Congress to block him from scaling back the penalties on Moscow in the future, the White House press secretary's office said Friday, according to Politico. This is just terrible. Trade advances peace and goodwill amongst nations, limiting trade increases the potential for

10,000 Hours With Claude Shannon: How A Genius Thinks, Works, and Lives

2017-07-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

By Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni For the last five years, we lived with one of the most brilliant people on the planet. Sort of. See, we just published the biography of Dr. Claude Shannon. He’s the most important genius you’ve never heard of, a man whose intellect was on par with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. We spent five years with him. It’s not an exaggeration to say that, during that

The Truth Concerning the Scare Headlines Around the "17 Million Who Would Lose Health Insurance Coverage" Under Obamacare Repeal

2017-07-28T14:45:00.003-04:00

By Robert Wenzel Senator John McCain has killed Obamacare "skinny repeal" but it should be made clear that much of the fearmongering by mainstream media about the earlier Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 was dishonest by leaving out the complete story. New York Times "economist" Paul Krugman led the dishonesty by omission. with this retweet: Here's a CNBC headline: Here's the

TRUMP "TAX REFORM": Higher Taxes For Many

2017-07-28T12:13:00.002-04:00

Imagine my surprise. If President Donald Trump sticks to what he has said, Americans earning between $149,400 and $307,900 are most likely to see an increase in their taxes as a result of tax reform, reports The Wall Street Journal. According to WSJ, those figures come from a recent study by the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan group in Washington, and are based on Trump’s statements and

Rand Paul: The Failure to Repeal Obamacare Means Premiums Will Continue to Skyrocket

2017-07-28T11:46:00.002-04:00

In an op-ed at Rare.us, Senator Rand Paul writes: What will happen now that the Obamacare repeal has failed? The same thing that was already happening: Premiums will skyrocket. Insurers will exit, leaving monopolies or vacuums, and Americans will have less choice... The clean repeal, which I supported, wasn’t perfect, but it would have forced all parties to legislatively resolve the

The Latest in Central Power Flexing in Silicon Valley (Cracking Down on Churches Edition)

2017-07-28T10:04:00.000-04:00

The city of Palo Alto is cracking down on churches that are trying to cut costs by subletting some of their space. CBS Bay Area reports that the clock is ticking for one church, which has been told all its tenants have to get out in a few weeks, or face severe fines: The First Baptist Church has been on the same street corner in Palo Alto, serving the poor and needy, for 125 years. But after a

McCain Kills Obamacare 'Skinny' Repeal

2017-07-28T06:42:00.002-04:00

The evil bastard did it. Three Republicans joined all Democrats to vote "no" on the Obamacare repeal measure. Senator John McCain was the surprise "no" vote. He voted against "skinny" Obamacare repeal and thus killed the bill. A vote in favor by McCain would have tied the Senate and Vice-President Pence would have cast the tie-breaker in favor of the bill. The Washington Post has the

U.S. Orders Diplomats’ Families to Leave Venezuela

2017-07-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

File under: A socialist crack-up The United States has ordered the families of diplomats and other employees at the embassy in Caracas to leave Venezuela ahead of a high-stakes election in the country. U.S. diplomats are permitted to leave the country if they choose to do so. Political unrest and violence have resulted in more than 100 deaths over the past four months. Venezuelans are voting

Rand Paul Votes to Kill the 'Cadillac Tax'

2017-07-27T21:42:00.003-04:00

Just voted YES on the Heller Amdt. to permanently repeal the burdensome "Cadillac" tax on health insurance plans — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 28, 2017 The bill was rejected 43-57. -RW

Senate Has Approved Sweeping Sanctions Against Russia

2017-07-27T21:31:00.001-04:00

The Senate late Thursday approved sweeping sanctions against Russia. The vote, 98-2, followed the passage of a House bill earlier this week. Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders voted against the bill The bill now goes to President Trump to sign. There have been mixed signals from the White House on whether Trump will sign the bill or veto it. The bill not only imposes harsh sanctions against Russia,

Jeff Bezos Surpasses Bill Gates as World's Richest Person

2017-07-27T12:16:00.002-04:00

Semi-crony, semi-great entrepreneur, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now the richest man in the world, based on the latest trading in his stock. Bezos now has a net worth of $90.9 billion, versus $90.7 billion for Bill Gates. -RW

Global Corruption and the Role of Government

2017-07-27T11:01:00.000-04:00

Richard Ebeling emails: Dear Bob, I have a new article on the website of the Future of Freedom Foundation on, “Global Corruption and the Role of Government.” Political corruption has been around for all of recorded history; indeed, it was a matter of concern and punishment, for instance, in ancient Rome. It pervades every country in the world today. The Berlin-based non-profit, Transparency

Did Charles Koch Buy a Piece of the University of Utah to 'Balance' a Marxist Faculty?

2017-07-27T09:01:00.000-04:00

Charles Koch Charles Koch is spending his money again. This time it is to "counterbalance" Marxians at the University of Utah by funding a program that appears will advance the false theories of econometrics. Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik explains what's going down: Here’s something you may not have known about the University of Utah: It’s been a center of scholarship in

Top Bitcoin Exchange Operator Busted on $4 Billion Money Laundering Charge

2017-07-27T08:01:00.000-04:00

A Russian “internationally sought ‘mastermind’ of a crime organisation” accused of laundering more than $4 billion in bitcoin, has been arrested in Greece, reports The Guardian. A US jury indicted Alexander Vinnik on Wednesday after his arrest in a small beachside village in northern Greece on Tuesday, following an investigation led by the US justice department along with several other

Paul Krugman Doesn't Understand Healthcare Economics

2017-07-27T07:12:00.000-04:00

Krugie A nice blast by Forbes columnist John C. Goodman: Paul Krugman is an editorial writer for the New York Times and a winner of the Nobel prize in economics. Yet more than any other economist in the country, he routinely discredits the very profession that has honored him. Krugman says that Obamacare actually works. He also thinks the entire health care system would work better if

The GOP Senate Seven That Shot Down Rand Paul's Repeal Obamacare Bill

2017-07-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

Seven Senate Republicans shot down Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) clean Obamacare repeal bill on Wednesday. Rand's bill failed 45-55. The seven Republican senators who voted against the clean repeal bill are: Dean Heller (R-NV) Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) Susan Collins (R-ME) John McCain (R-AZ) Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Rob Portman (R-OH) (via Breitbart)

Is China Manipulating Its Currency?

2017-07-26T16:54:00.000-04:00

Dr. Benn Steil, senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, emails: My July 25 op-ed for PBS NewsHour takes a critical look at the charge that China manipulates its currency for competitive advantage. The Economist magazine’s Big Mac Index says yes. My Mini Mac Index says no. You decide. I hope you find the piece of interest. All best regards,

Russia Warns of ‘Painful’ Response If Trump Backs U.S. Sanctions

2017-07-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

Russia is threatening to retaliate against new sanctions passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, saying they make it all but impossible to achieve the Trump administration’s goal of improved relations, reports Bloomberg. The measures push U.S.-Russia ties into uncharted territory and “don’t leave room for the normalization of relations” in the foreseeable future, Deputy Foreign Minister

Republicans Considering a British Colonial Stamp Act Type Tax on Advertising

2017-07-26T12:49:00.000-04:00

Lifezette reports as substantial “pay-fors” such as the border adjustment tax begin to fall out of the public’s favor, some in Congress have begun to look at provisions from Dave Camp’s 2014 tax reform proposal as a blueprint for replacement. Camp’s proposal would have changed the tax treatment of advertising from a normal, 100 percent deductible business expense to one that is only 50

Rand Paul Introduces “Obamacare Repeal” Act

2017-07-26T11:04:00.002-04:00

Late last night, U.S. Senato Rand Paul reintroduced the Obamacare repeal legislation passed by Congress in 2015 as an amendment to the American Healthcare Act of 2017 [HR 1628]. The Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act [Amendment No. 271] will be voted on by the Senate today. “I’ve led the fight to vote on a full, clean repeal of Obamacare, and am pleased the Senate has heeded my call to vote

Trump Wants Low Interest Rates and a "Not Too Strong" Dollar

2017-07-26T06:19:00.000-04:00

I have been warning in the EPJ Daily Alert that the dollar looks very weak at the present time and could break significantly lower in the not too distant future. It looks like President Trump wants to help me with my forecast. He told The Wall Street Journal yesterday: I do like low interest rates. I mean, you know, I’m not making that a big secret. I think low interest rates are good. I like